Paste Magazine's The 100 Best “B Movies” of All Time

Paste Magazine's The 100 Best “B Movies” of All Time's icon

Created by mightysparks.

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From Paste: Not every film can be the Citizen Kane of its day. For every high-budget “A movie” that commands significant promotion and funding from its studio, there are piles of B movies that scratch and claw their way into existence without the benefit of things like “a budget” or “a script” in some cases. To compare them with A movies in terms of resources and immersiveness isn’t a fair proposition. Instead, discerning film fans are able to simply appreciate them for what they are.

But what does “best” mean when we’re talking about films often famous for their shoddy construction? It certainly doesn’t mean “best-made.” It also doesn’t mean “worst-made,” or else films like Manos: The Hands of Fate and The Beast of Yucca Flats would make prominent appearances. They’re not on this list because the meaning of “best” here is “most entertaining,” and I defy you to be entertained by Manos without its MST3k commentary or a pound of medical-grade marijuana. If these films are painful, they’re also equally fun.

Whenever possible, I tried to keep the list to more obscure titles. Although John Carpenter’s Halloween is a great example of a superbly made “B movie” in terms of budget, any film fan has most likely seen it already. Gathered here is a collection of some of the most entertainingly cheap and endearingly bad movies ever made.

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  1. 18 new

    Braindead

    1992 — a.k.a. Dead Alive, in 8 top lists Check
  2. 11 new

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

    1957, in 6 top lists Check
  3. 32 new

    The Incredible Shrinking Man

    1957, in 10 top lists Check
  4. 49 new

    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

    1965 — a.k.a. The Leather Girls, in 8 top lists Check
  5. 46 new

    Killer Klowns from Outer Space

    1988, in 3 top lists Check
  6. 38 new

    Death Race 2000

    1975, in 4 top lists Check
  7. 13 new

    The Return of the Living Dead

    1985, in 3 top lists Check
  8. 87 new

    The Blob

    1958, in 5 top lists Check
  9. 2 new

    The Room

    2003, in 2 top lists Check
  10. 86 new

    The Blob

    1988, in 2 top lists Check
  11. 84 new

    Piranha

    1978, in 4 top lists Check
  12. 5 new

    Troll 2

    1990, in 2 top lists Check
  13. 12 new

    House on Haunted Hill

    1959, in 1 top list Check
  14. 97 new

    Iron Sky

    2012, in 0 top lists Check
  15. 24 new

    The Toxic Avenger

    1984, in 4 top lists Check
  16. 77 new

    Basket Case

    1982, in 2 top lists Check
  17. 65 new

    The Stuff

    1985, in 2 top lists Check
  18. 79 new

    The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms

    1953, in 3 top lists Check
  19. 26 new

    Foxy Brown

    1974, in 3 top lists Check
  20. 29 new

    The Haunted Palace

    1963, in 1 top list Check
  21. 44 new

    It Came from Beneath the Sea

    1955 — a.k.a. Monster from Beneath the Sea, in 0 top lists Check
  22. 60 new

    The Tingler

    1959, in 4 top lists Check
  23. 71 new

    Feast

    2005, in 2 top lists Check
  24. 37 new

    Hell Comes to Frogtown

    1988, in 1 top list Check
  25. 70 new

    X

    1963 — a.k.a. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, in 5 top lists Check
  26. 34 new

    Class of Nuke 'Em High

    1986, in 0 top lists Check
  27. 58 new

    Du bi quan wang da po xue di zi

    1976 — a.k.a. Master of the Flying Guillotine, in 3 top lists Check
  28. 101 new

    The Giant Claw

    1957, in 1 top list Check
  29. 85 new

    The Vampire Lovers

    1970, in 1 top list Check
  30. 7 new

    Can que

    1978 — a.k.a. Crippled Avengers, in 2 top lists Check
  31. 43 new

    Dr. Terror's House of Horrors

    1965 — a.k.a. The Blood Suckers, in 1 top list Check
  32. 1 new

    Hard Ticket to Hawaii

    1987, in 0 top lists Check
  33. 51 new

    Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

    1997, in 0 top lists Check
  34. 6 new

    Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

    2006, in 1 top list Check
  35. 54 new

    C.H.U.D.

    1984, in 1 top list Check
  36. 20 new

    Chopping Mall

    1986, in 1 top list Check
  37. 42 new

    Cyborg

    1989, in 1 top list Check
  38. 90 new

    Dolemite

    1975, in 2 top lists Check
  39. 15 new

    Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

    1965 — a.k.a. Dr. G and the Bikini Machine, in 0 top lists Check
  40. 89 new

    It's Alive

    1974, in 1 top list Check
  41. 41 new

    Masters of the Universe

    1987, in 1 top list Check
  42. 67 new

    Mr. Sardonicus

    1961, in 0 top lists Check
  43. 74 new

    Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

    2006, in 2 top lists Check
  44. 75 new

    Robot Monster

    1953 — a.k.a. Monster from Mars, in 2 top lists Check
  45. 55 new

    Showdown in Little Tokyo

    1991, in 1 top list Check
  46. 3 new

    Birdemic: Shock and Terror

    2010, in 1 top list Check
  47. 64 new

    Kingu Kongu no gyakushû

    1967 — a.k.a. King Kong Escapes, in 1 top list Check
  48. 22 new

    Night of the Demons

    1988 — a.k.a. Halloween Party, in 1 top list Check
  49. 69 new

    Pánico en el Transiberiano

    1972 — a.k.a. Horror Express, in 1 top list Check
  50. 91 new

    Sharknado

    2013, in 0 top lists Check
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Last updated on May 12, 2014; source